Between war and peace: a dynamic reconceptualization of “frozen conflicts”

Michal Smetana () and Jan Ludvík
Additional contact information
Michal Smetana: Charles University
Jan Ludvík: Charles University

Asia Europe Journal, 2019, vol. 17, issue 1, No 1, 14 pages

Abstract: Abstract Frozen conflicts, situations in which war ended yet stable peace did not materialize, trouble both Asia and Europe. Despite the clear policy relevance of this problem, the notion of frozen conflicts remains surprisingly blurred in peace and conflict studies literature. In this paper, we seek to provide a rigorous conceptualization of frozen conflicts. We situate frozen conflicts into a broader debate about enduring rivalries in international politics and demonstrate the theoretical relevance of the term vis-à-vis existing concepts. Furthermore, we outline a theoretical model of frozen conflict dynamics, which portrays frozen conflicts as dynamic configurations undergoing a periodical “thawing” in relations between the opposing sides: either toward diplomatic negotiations (“peaceful thawing”) or re-escalation toward use of armed force (“violent thawing”). We illustrate the usefulness of our model with empirical observations from other articles in this special issue and conclude with possible avenues for further research.

Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10308-018-0521-x Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:asiaeu:v:17:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s10308-018-0521-x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... es/journal/10308/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10308-018-0521-x

Access Statistics for this article

Asia Europe Journal is currently edited by Ulrich Volz and Lay Hwee Yeo

More articles in Asia Europe Journal from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().